what bullets do swedish m96s like

Measure the twist if it's been rebarreled. One in nine is about as slow as you want to go, and that may not stabilize bullets over 140 gr. One in ten start with 120gr. One in eight and and a half or less and the sky's the limit.
 
I'm just going into reloading for that calibre and an old friend who is an expert on such matters advised me to use Hornady 160 gr Interlock for Moose & bear up to 200 yds, and Nosler 140 gr Partitions for everything else.
He suggests that it is wise to keep loads for the m-96 on the milder side, as the model 96 used an older type of steel than the m-38.
Let me know how you do with your loads and I'll try to do likewise.
 
Any of the M96's that I shot and worked on had twists around 1 in 7.6 or so. They liked heavier bullets and powders on the slow end of the scale e.g. IMR4350, IMR4831, H4831. Most of them absolutely loved the 160 grain Hornady round nose bullet and shot OK with 140's too. Some guys reported getting good accuracy with 120 grainers, but I never did. Of course, it's like any other reloading thing, you puts down your money and takes your chances. Oddly enough I don't think I ever shot one with the full length barrel. As I recall, I cut all the barrels down and recrowned them before shooting them. They were surprisingly accurate rifles in my experience. Sometimes I wonder about these older rifles now and how the steel in them is holding up. Feel the same way about P14-17's. Some of them are getting pretty long in the tooth. Fred
 
Just for everybodies info, the steel used in all M96's and M38's is the exact same. The Swedish Mauser was proofed at the factory at 66,000 psi of breech pressure and the receiver was designed to routinely withstand breech pressures of 44,000 psi. Origional 6.5mm ammo was 156 gr at 700 mps or 2296 fps at 25m and the latest round is 139 gr at 800mps or 2626.7 fps. This info comes from the book The Swedish Mauser Rifles by Steve Kehaya and Joe Poyer. Cheers.
 
Mine likes 140's moving at about 2650 fps. Three different styles (Sierra SBT, Nosler Partition, Rem CL). they all shoot good. Im sure Hornady 160's would fine too, never completed testing those.

I use RL-22 as a powder (worked up to 46.7)

Im testing 85 Gr. bullets next.
 
Several loads work well in mine, 120's and 140's I've used with good results.
A load I'm kinda fond of at the moment is:
140 grain hornady #2630
37.5 grains IMR4895
Winchester large rifle primer
Remington cases, neck sized and factory crimped
3.030" O.A.L.
10 shot average velocity=2461.35 FPS (24 1/4" barrel)
In my rifle this load is very acurate, has very light recoil and shows no signs of high pressures.

YMMV...
 
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For shooting through two moose and a fire hydrant try 42gr N-204 with either a 156-160gr bullet.Or 42gr of IMR 4350 with the same bullets. 45.5 gr of RE 22 and a 140gr is also to die for............................Harold
 
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